Pendle family's unique collection of L.S. Lowry sketches sells at auction at Tennants Auctioneers, North Yorkshire

The works were given by Lowry to Ruth and Neville Blake, longstanding friends of the famous Manchester artist whom lived from 1887 to 1976.

Mr Blakey first met Lowry in the late 1950s, when the artist took a clock for repair in the Blakey’s business premises and the pair struck up a lasting friendship.

The collection comprised ‘Figures Young and Old’, a pencil sketch made in 1969 (sold for £40,000 all figures exclude buyer’s premium), ‘Group of Children’, a further pencil sketch from 1966 and inscribed verso ‘To Mr and Mrs Neville Blakey’ (sold for £19,000), and ‘Street Scene with Dogs’, a biro sketch from 1963 executed on a page in Mr Blakey’s autograph book (sold for £8,000).

The autograph book was accompanied by a ledger in which Mr Blakey recounts the pair’s first meetings and notes that: “This delightful sketch was drawn in the drawing room. He visited us here … and we made return visits on many occasions to his house at Mottram in Longdendale. He was a most kind person.”

There were strong prices achieved across the rest of the sale, boosted by the numerous bidders that packed the saleroom in the Modern and Contemporary Art Sale at Tennants Auctioneers, North Yorkshire.

Tennants Auctioneers is a fourth-generation family business and is one of the UK’s largest international Antiques and Fine Art auctioneers. Situated in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, Tennants holds over 80 sales a year.